Defeat at Park Ridge

All trails are created equal on the Hume Lake Ranger District's OHV map. There's a legend on that map that includes some notable trails. And some of those I've already been on this summer were much less challenging that the map made them sound.

Thus I didn't expect much of a challenge when we ventured over to the other side of the highway towards Hume Lake via the Cherry Gap. The map shows Indian Basin Road running nearly parallel to Park Ridge Road. In fact, if you had to judge the terrain from the line on the map, you'd say Park Ridge was the smoother ride of the two. Indian Basin to Park Ridge and back to Huckleberry Trail looked like a nice little loop. Judging by the topographical data, we'd have a good view from Park Ridge, and we'd be back on the highway in time for a quick trip up to Boyden Cave.

The boys and I had a leisurely drive through Indian Basin, stopping at several points along the way to stretch our legs, catch a grasshopper, count the rings in a fallen tree (112), and drink coffee.

I should have known something was afoot as soon as I made the turn onto Park Ridge. Unlike other forest service roads, this one is marked with orange triangles on the trees, sometimes pointing in the direction you're supposed to go, lest the lack of a clear path lead you astray. The road was well traveled, jeeps have been here, but each little hill climb became more challenging than the last, until finally my poor factory equipped truck was stopped dead in its tracks. The picture above was taken when we were already at about a 30 degree angle--so it's hard to appreciate how steep this last bit really was. The rock at the top has a lot of very loose dirt under it, and there's no way around.

As I pointed out in my last post, I've spent the summer exploring every road on the map--and nothing's been a serious challenge. Now I feel like a house cat behind a closed door--and I know a road exists on this map that I can't travel (yet).